


Since Last Goodbye

by Mel_S_Bancroft



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Angst, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 14:59:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5789881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mel_S_Bancroft/pseuds/Mel_S_Bancroft
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many seasons have passed between the time when you and Tedzuka last saw each other, and though many things have changed, some things haven't. Tedzuka + (female) Reader.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Since Last Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> Umm... okay. So. This was the very first fic I ever wrote, and it was actually never meant to be written. Two semesters ago I discovered character songs after getting into TeniPuri, and I stumbled upon Tedzuka's character song [SINCE LAST GOODBYE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoLmEfhTOjk), which, along with being stunningly beautiful, is also incredibly sad. A few days after looking up the [lyrics](http://princeoftennis.wikia.com/wiki/Since_Last_Goodbye) and English translation, I realized what one of the lines might mean, and the idea behind this fic started floating around in my head. And that's all it was ever meant to do, just float around. Then, one day during class (no worries, we weren't really doing anything) it started coming to me in words and I had to write it down or I would never forgive myself. Thus, this was born. It's the only reader-insert I've ever written and probably the only reader-insert I ever _will_ write, but I had to write it this way since it's the only way it makes sense - this is the other side of his song, which he sings _to_ you. I reference the song's translation multiple times in this fic, but I don't think it's necessary to read it to understand the fic; it's mostly just used for setting. I do recommend you listen to the song though. Okiayu Ryoutarou has one of the most amazing voices ever.
> 
> Don't mind the random German at the end. It's just how it naturally flowed and I was utterly powerless to stop it. I tried to change it but it just didn't sound right.
> 
> Okay, I don't want people bothering me about my choice of romanization for his name (though people still might anyway), so I leave this here. His name is 手塚, which, in hiragana, is てづか. The second character is 塚 (mound, hillock), and adding 手 (hand) before it changes its first syllable from unvoiced (つ/tsu) to voiced (づ/dzu). (Actually I'm not even entirely sure if 塚 by itself is つか or づか because typing either will get me the character and I usually can't do that... But I digress.) I think that the reason why people tend to romanize dzu (also romanized as "du," though it's pronounced the same) as zu (which is ず, btw) is because you usually don't hear the "d." But then, you don't usually hear the "t" in tsu, either, but do people romanize it as su? No. (Thank goodness - that would be a nightmare.)
> 
> While I'm at it, I may as well add that the name is リョーマ, and that dash elongates the sound of the syllable before it (in this case, "ryo") making it "ryou." I chose to romanize both names more... literally? Can you romanize words literally, or is that just translating? Well, you know what I mean.
> 
> Ahh, I've stalled long enough. Anything else I have to say I'll say afterwards. Sorry for taking up so much of this foreword. Now onto the fic～

_“If we want to meet again  
then it will someday happen”_

You open the front door to check the temperature outside and breathe in the cool morning air. It’s too early to be spring by the calendar, but it certainly feels like spring.

Donning a thin jacket over your short-sleeved T-shirt, you head outside for a morning walk. You can’t remember the last time you’d taken one; you just haven’t been in the mood. But today, you feel a vague sense of restlessness, a need to get out and move about. 

Your mind wanders as your feet take you down a path they know well. You don’t really think about anything. You just…think. Your eyes drink in the greening scenery around you and your skin feels the soft warmth of the gentle sun through your jacket.

Suddenly your feet stop moving and you come to a halt.

Early-blooming wildflowers growing on either side of the dirt path dance in the gentle breeze.

Before you, you see the face of one whom you haven’t seen for countless seasons.

“[Last name]-san,” he says, that deep baritone of his which you had nearly forgotten tearing into your heart.

“Tedzuka-san…” 

You remember fondly your first—and only—day with him that could even somewhat be considered a “date.” He invited you out fishing one weekend when he didn’t have tennis. You’d never gone fishing before, and you weren’t entirely sure that you’d like it since it seemed dull, but you agreed anyway.

Clear blue skies brushed with a few pulled-cotton-ball clouds and a white sun shone down overhead. The still mountain air was stirred occasionally by a cool, calm breeze that rustled the leaves around you. You wore a tan-grey fisherman’s cap that Tedzuka had placed on your head upon arrival to protect you from the sun. For all the hours that the two of you spent out by the stream, you didn’t catch a single fish. But somehow, though he remained his usual quiet, serious, unreadable self, though nothing at all happened that day, you couldn’t find that lazy day boring.

“I’m…” 

But after he graduated from Seigaku, you never saw him again. You grew closer to Ryouma, who was in the same year as you. As you watched him grow in tennis, you realized that your feelings for him had grown as well. Eventually you started dating—actually dating, rather than just hanging out sometimes and loving from afar, as you had with Tedzuka.

“I’m married to Ryouma now.”

He blinks and his eyes widen a little. Sadly you meet his gaze with your own and his expression softens, somewhat downcast.

A soft breeze ruffles your hair.

“Ich leibe dich,” he whispers.

_I love you._

You feel your chest tighten a little. These words that reach your ears are the truth, you know, unlike those which he had spoken at your tearful parting.

You hadn’t thought that it would hurt this much to see him again, nearly eleven years later. You hadn’t thought that either of you would still harbor feelings for the other after all this time.

You smile bitterly. “Ich weiß.”

_I know._

**Author's Note:**

> I chose Ryouma for obvious reasons. At the time, he was, without a doubt, my favorite character (though now I'm leaning more toward Shiraishi being my favorite; when I wrote this, I wasn't very far into the series, like, at all), and he's pretty similar to Tedzuka while still being different.
> 
> Because this is my first fic, I dithered for the longest time on whether to post this or not. I finally decided to do so because it's not like my writing style has even improved that much in the past eight-odd months. The embarrassment I feel from reading this is the exact same embarrassment I feel from reading _any_ of my own works, including my most recent ones. Ahh, but that doesn't make it any less nerve-wracking, though...
> 
> I apologize again for taking up so much of the notes. I tend to ramble a bit when I'm nervous. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story.


End file.
